Chapter 48: Gratification

[Avery’s Rose Combo]

[Heavy Dance Fleet-Foot Slash]

[Royal Cross]

[…]

Xia Nan stared intensely at the combat art books in his hands, his eyes wide as if he could force a miracle out of the dust-laden covers.

“No way… where is my cheat code?”

“Do something!”

He focused entirely, marshaling every ounce of his attention. Yet, those familiar, translucent characters failed to manifest before his eyes as they usually did.

He had been in this world for so many days now, and he had basically confirmed that his “status panel” cheat code only responded to changes in his weapons, equipment, attributes, and personal feats. Still, when he actually walked into the sundries shop harboring the hope of finding a hidden gem, attempting to use his cheat to spot a few usable combat arts, walking away empty-handed couldn’t help but leave him disappointed.

“Maybe it’s because these are all knockoffs, so their attributes don’t show up?” Xia Nan comforted himself silently.

Silence filled the air within the sundries shop.

Beside him, Kukunur, who had very tactfully pretended to be busy with his own chores while actually observing Xia Nan through the corner of his eye for a long time, showed a trace of hesitation on his neatly groomed face. His emerald-green eyes cast a glance toward the empty doorway of the shop. Seeing that there was no one around and that what he was about to say shouldn’t offend the black-haired youth, he organized his phrasing mentally before slowly speaking:

“Customer, judging by your attire, you must be a respected adventurer.”

“I mean no offense, but… looking at the price I offered, you can probably guess that the quality of these cheap goods is indeed highly uneven.”

“If you’re just taking them back to skim through as a pastime, there’s absolutely no problem with buying a few. But if you’re truly hoping to unearth the kind of ‘Combat Art’ required as a prerequisite for professional classes, even with the best of luck, it would be remarkably difficult.”

As he spoke, perhaps feeling that he was being too blunt, the gnome Kukunur nervously toyed with the buttons on his vest and added:

“Mainly, I’m just worried you might get hurt. After all, many of the training methods inside these combat art books are rather unorthodox. If you don’t mind, I can give you a few for free, but please, absolutely do not practice them as actual ‘Combat Arts’.”

Xia Nan naturally harbored no ill feelings toward the shopkeeper’s warning. He merely smiled and shook his head, declining the free offer while signaling that he was fine.

Through Wood and the half-elf over the past few days, he had already gained some knowledge regarding the “Combat Arts” of this world. Without a way to accurately distinguish the genuine from the fake, 99.99% of the massive volume of so-called “combat arts” circulating on the market were nothing but traps that wasted an adventurer’s time and energy. The cost of trial and error was far too high; a lapse in judgment could easily waste several months or even half a year.

Without some other stroke of fortune or the guidance of a relevant professional, attempting to master an official combat art solely through a skill book bought from a roadside sundries shop was undoubtedly a pipedream.

Xia Nan had asked Kukunur for the price partly to test whether his cheat code would work, and partly to see if he could get lucky. Now, he had his answer.

Still, it seemed a bit of a pity to leave without buying a single book. After some thought, Xia Nan squatted down and picked out two combat art books from the cardboard box. Holding them by the spines, he flicked them in the air to shake off the dust.

“Just these two then. How much?”

“No need, customer. Consider them a gift from me.”

“It’s fine.”

He had no intention of owing this kind of favor, nor did he care to pinch pennies over a few coppers. Xia Nan stuffed the copper coins into Kukunur’s arms and walked straight out of the sundries shop.

The collective experience of protagonists picking up hidden treasures in the countless novels he had read in his past life made him instinctively avoid the books with flashy names and thicknesses exceeding half a knuckle. Instead, he chose the two thinnest ones that looked the most concise and straightforward:

[Forward Thrust] and [Parry Upper Slash].

He casually stacked them and stuffed them into his backpack.

Xia Nan looked at the bustling, prosperous street before him, where people surged back and forth, and calculated in his heart:

“Alright, next up…”

“Time to pay a visit to the blacksmith.”

“Ironhammer,” being a premium blacksmith shop highly acclaimed within Riverbend Town and even listed in the Adventurer’s Handbook, was naturally never short of business.

When Xia Nan arrived at the entrance with his backpack, the shop owner, “Barn Steelwhisker,” was hosting a middle-aged man with a honest, simple face and plain attire. The man was holding a two-handed pike, his gaze tracing from the butt of the shaft all the way to the tip of the spearhead as he inspected it thoroughly. From time to time, he thrust it forward a few times, seemingly feeling out whether its handling and weight were suitable.

After haggling with Barn for a bit, the man finally counted out four gold coins along with some loose silver and copper coins from his pouch with a pained expression, presenting them with both hands. Of course, judging by the look of heartache mixed with a touch of joy upon completing the transaction, it was evident that this honest-looking middle-aged man was extremely satisfied with the pike in his hands.

When passing by Xia Nan, he even nodded somewhat sheepishly, as if apologizing for taking up his time.

Treating him merely as a passerby, Xia Nan returned the nod and shifted his attention away, walking straight toward the “Ironhammer” owner, Barn.

“Huh?”

With just a single glance, this burly man—who prided himself on his dwarf lineage yet stood an entire head taller than a bugbear—recognized Xia Nan. However, compared to the changes that had occurred in the youth’s demeanor, his point of focus was slightly different.

“Your mission this time sure looked dangerous!” Barn remarked with pointed emphasis, scanning the tattered leather armor on Xia Nan that was still stained with bloodstains.

After all, it wasn’t long ago that he had personally sold this leather armor to the youth. Seeing an item of excellent quality that cost 10 gold end up in this state, how could he not be concerned?

“We did run into a troublesome fellow. It’s also thanks to your leather armor, otherwise I’m afraid I wouldn’t have made it back,” Xia Nan said without revealing specific details, laughing it off with a compliment.

As if these words had hit the exact sweet spot, Barn’s hearty laughter instantly echoed throughout the blacksmith shop.

“Hahaha, that’s good to hear!”

“You probably can’t wear it anymore anyway. Take it off, I’ll buy it back for three silver coins!”

His expression was filled with gratification and a profound sense of accomplishment.

As a blacksmith with high aspirations, selling the gear crafted by his hands at a premium price could certainly prove that others recognized his skill. But what truly moved him the most was feedback like this from a buyer after the gear had been tested in actual combat.

Even if the equipment he had once painstakingly forged had now been reduced to a piece of scrap metal, as long as it had fulfilled its duty and allowed its master to stand safely and soundly before him, it made Barn far happier than selling hundreds or even thousands of gold worth of merchandise.

(End of Chapter)